This bill amends Section 1913 of Title 69 of the Oklahoma Statutes, which pertains to the Rural Economic Transportation Reliability and Optimization Fund. The amendments include a modification of the population limitation for counties eligible for funding from seventy-five thousand (75,000) to fifty thousand (50,000). The bill also updates the statutory language and references, and it establishes that the fund will be administered by the Department of Transportation instead of the previously mentioned Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Additionally, it mandates that any appropriations to the fund should not decrease historic state transportation funding levels and should be used to enhance, rather than supplant, existing state funds.

Furthermore, the bill appropriates $200 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Rural Economic Transportation Reliability and Optimization Fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026. It outlines that the Department of Transportation may use up to fifty percent of the total project costs from the fund to accelerate and prioritize improvement projects in rural areas experiencing significant traffic increases due to robust economic development. The act is set to take effect on July 1, 2025, and includes an emergency clause for immediate implementation upon passage and approval.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 69-1913